Wednesday, April 28, 2010

HELLO LOSTIES!!!! You knew I wouldn't let you down, right? I just couldn't let a week go by in the final season without posting something. We have 5 hours left (4 episodes) in the final season of LOST. What is my season verdict so far? I'm sure most of you know: WOW!!!!! I'm sure others disagree and are still clamoring for answers. This seemed like a good time to catch our breath and consider the answers that we HAVE received. And, well, some that we didn't!

If you all recall, I posted back in January (23 days before the premiere) with my 23 Mysteries to Ponder in the Final Season of LOST (You might want to read it as a refresher as I don't really rehash my questions as much as continue the discussions below). I'm here to say that we're doing pretty well on answers folks! But you don't have to take my word for it, you can read on to see how we're doing! But, naturally, with any season of LOST new questions are always being introduced. And, to many fans' frustrations, we have gotten LOTS of new things to ponder as we head towards the finale. I will name a few of these in Section #2 of the posting. The 3rd section will be a miscellaneous section of other questions that I raised in the original blog posting that didn't make the 23 Cut. Hope you're excited for more reading material, because I think I went overboard again.

23 Mysteries From January 2010 - REVISITED

1.) What's up with Walt? Well, we haven't learned much more about Walt than we have known since the beginning of the season. We know the ghost of his father is trapped on the Island. We know that the producers were actively trying to figure out a way to write Walt back into the show for an appearance. But we still don't know what THE OTHERS wanted with him and why they got more than they bargained for with him. We don't know anything about his "special powers" or why he was having crazy dreams about Locke off the island. We don't know why "Taller Ghost Walt" appeared to Locke and if it was actually Walt. Yes, we could acknowledge the kid aged....but we also know that they specifically brought up that he was taller on the show. And can we relate this to the other Kid that is appearing on the Island to certain candidates? He seems to be aging in every appearance as well. Jury is still out on if we'll get some Walt resolution in the final 5 hours.

2.) Desmond's Incomplete Story - Well, I think we're going to focus more on these "rules not applying to Desmond" more than finding out why he was in Military Prison back in the day. And hey, that's the more interesting part of the equation anyway. We know Eloise told him the Island wasn't done with him and we know Widmore brought him back. So now what? Well, Desmond has witnessed both the Island and Sideways timelines by his respective selves and is on some crazy mission in both timelines. Desmond is seen with Jacob-like omniscience in both lands. Is this significant? Did he turn Sayid back to the LIGHT SIDE after the well incident? Why did he really run over Locke in the Sideways timeline? (revenge on Flocke for throwing him in a well, or to "WAKE JOHN UP in Sideways land?) Time will tell, but our resident Hatch imploder definitely will play a pivotal role in the end game.

3.) Eloise Hawking's Knowledge of the Future (and now Sideway!) - Well, we don't know how she knew that Red Shoes man was going to die back in season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" but now we have bigger problems. Not only did she know what was going on in the Island timeline, she seems to have a leg up on everyone in the Sideways timeline as well. She even told Desmond that he finally has Charles Widmore's approval, which is what he wanted more than anything in his Island existence. How does she know this? Is she aware that the events they put in motion at the end of season 5...the events that she spent her whole adult live doing (raising her child and sending him to his ultimate death) has potentially led to this sideways existence? Is she content with that knowledge? Then why did she tell Desmond that he wasn't ready to know the truth "YET?" Ahhh the crazy YET thrown in there to make us keep pondering.

4.) Who are Adam and Eve? The theories on this have been running wild. There have been allusions in season 6 that this answer is coming. Jack and Hurley visited the caves. Hurley talked about them time traveling again to Dinosaur times and that the bodies might be 2 of them (the LOSTIES). This was in reference to many of us speculating last season that 2 of the time traveling LOSTIES might be Adam and Eve. It is still possible, maybe it WILL be Rose and Bernard? Maybe it will be Sawyer and Kate as people have pointed out Sideways Sawyer giving Sideways Kate an Apple. Eh, maybe. I'm not seeing it! Me? I've thrown my own crazy theory out there that perhaps Adam is the Man in Black and Eve his his LOVE that possibly was killed. Something that MIB blames Jacob for and it ended their long-standing friendship. It's a stretch, or is it really? MIB told Sawyer that he used to be a man, that he once suffered LOSS. I am not ruling it out yet. But why the bodies or the decomposition of the clothes are 40-50 years old? Eh, can't explain that one. Some people have disregarded Jack's initial analysis since he is a spinal surgeon and gave an estimate. It's possible, but the WRITERS wrote the script, not Jack! I guess it could be related to the purging of the US Military in the 1950's but I don't think people would be satisfied with that answer. Damon and Carlton promised when we found out their identities we would know they had a plan since the beginning. I'm still doubting anything could prove that, but I'm still excited to find out who they are!

5.) The Tale of the REAL Henry Gale - Yep, we may as well just forget about this one!

6.) Libby's Stay at the Mental Institution - Well, how about a compromise on this one? We found out why she was nuts in the Sideways timeline. Because she saw Hurley on a TV commercial and recognized him! Turns out Libby and Hurley are star-crossed lovers and destined to be with each other. TRUE LOVE. Does this explain why she was married to some David guy who had a boat? Does it explain why Hurley was seeing a ghost or a figment of his imagination named DAVE? No, but we can still theorize that David and Dave are the same guy. Does it explain why Libby looked insane and obsessive over Hurley in the Institution? Nope, but I'm guessing we're not getting that answer. I'm a little saddened by this, but hey, we still got a great Hurley Sideways episode this season. And I wouldn't trade that up for that answer! Hurley found some love! Will it last? Well, that depends on how Sideways ends up.

7.) The Whole Richard Not Aging thing - CHECK! We got an answer. Richard "CHOSE" to be that way and Jacob granted it. Is that the answer we all wanted? Probably not. But how awesome was Ab Aeterno? An instant classic episode that joins the ranks of THE CONSTANT and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. ( I still rank these 2 higher though).

8.) Where is our Black Rock backstory? CHECK! They tied it into the Richard story. Of course, we're left with more questions than answers. Why was this story set in 1867 when we know that the Black Rock left Portsmouth England in the 1840's, and the journal of the first mate was found in the 1850s. ALL BEFORE 1867! (I hear the Enhanced Version of this episode that aired last night explains these inconsistencies. I'm going to have to watch that!) And I thought it was really interesting that we never saw Magnus Hanso's face. Just like we barely saw Alvar Hanso's face either. This Hanso family is shrouded with mystery. This led many of us to speculate that perhaps the Black Rock had come to the Island SEVERAL times prior to its final voyage with Richard. Maybe the Hanso family was assisting Jacob in shuttling people to the Island (how DID DHARMA end up there in the first place anyway?). Or...perhaps Hanso = Jacob! Maybe we'll never know.

9.) How did the 4-toed Statue (Taweret) get destroyed only to leave the one foot (Jacob's home)? - Ab Aeterno answered all 3 of these questions in one shot! The Black Rock caught onto a huge wave and took down the statue on its way inland. That's all well and good, but now we're wondering why Jacob and MIB were talking in the middle of the day when the Black Rock was arriving (yes folks, it WAS the Black Rock) and then it was totally night time when it hit that statue. Does anyone remember Charlie talking in the season 1 episode about if the weather changing so suddenly was normal? (Day turning into night, end of the world type weather) Sources tell me (in other words: Damon and Carlton in their podcast) that we will be seeing more with the WEATHER on the Island before the show is over. So they were totally implying that this storm may have been summoned up pretty quickly as the Black Rock was arriving to the Island. Perhaps Jacob can control the weather? Maybe the ISLAND gets all crazy with weather to welcome new visitors? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it rained when Jack, Kate and Charlie went to the fuselage, it rained as the Black Rock arrived to the Island, and it rained when the helicopter came off the freighter with Daniel and crew. I don't think it rained when Naomi parachuted onto the Island. Or when 316 came back. It was a stretch! But definitely plan to see more here!

10.) What IS the Smoke Monster? CHECK!! The awesome part of this is, a lot of us had thrown out the possibility that the Man in Black aka Fake Locke was indeed the Smoke monster! But even when it was confirmed for us on the show, we got an awesome reveal with Smokey ripping up Jacob's bodyguards (another answer) and then Flocke telling Ben "I'm sorry you had to see me like that." NICE!!! Great stuff. Of course, we still don't know the ORIGIN of the Smoke Monster. We don't know the Man in Black's backstory or his name. We don't know how he BECAME the Smoke Monster. Was it a position bestowed on him by Jacob? Did he have some sort of ACCIDENT? Did he jump into the Island volcano? (that we have yet to see) Created from Lava hence his aversion to ASH? Can he be Smokey OFF of the Island if he gets loose or is there some properties on the Island that make him that way? Like I mentioned in the original 23 Mysteries Post, I don't think we're going to get into the physical decomposition of what makes smokey, Smokey but it would be nice to get an origin story to the Man in Black! There's only so much time left! I'd also like to know why Ben was able to summon Smokey especially if the TEMPLE OTHERS are so fearful of him. Maybe they were only fearful of him because Jacob was dead. Maybe they were "untouchable" before then. And the same with Dogen. Smokey couldn't get into the Temple until Dogen was dead. But for Smokey to actually do something FOR Ben? Was it for his ultimate goal? To get Ben to leave the Island followed by Locke, Ben to Kill Locke and Jack to bring him back? Eh, you got me! I'm not sure we'll get an answer to it either, but it was still one awesome scene to watch Smokey rip up the freighter crew!

11.) The Interconnected Lives of our Island Dwellers - SORTA CHECK! We are kind of seeing that these people were meant to interact in the Island life AND in the Sideways life. But why? Jacob did touch some of them pushing these people towards the Island. We found out that many of them have been candidates to replace Jacob and protect the world from Evil. We know that Jacob was watching all of these people from this Lighthouse. But I still want more! I don't even know what I want, but I'm sure the big answers will become very clear in the final hours (Or ambiguously clear if not very!)

12.) The eternal Love Triangle (Jack/Kate/Sawyer). How will it End? - This one is still anyone's guess. Maybe neither of them get the girl in the end. Right now Sawyer has a leg up in Sideways land, but I think we have yet to see our big Jack/Kate moment. And with LOVE playing a big part in connecting the Sideways land to the Island Timeline, I would think some resolution will be coming here. Of course, we still have to consider that not all 3 of these people will be standing alive in the end. Time will tell.

13.) Desmond's Vision of Claire and "baby" getting into a Helicopter - Yep, we still haven't seen this one and there is no baby and no helicopter in sight. Some people suggest that Desmond had "told Charlie what he needed to hear" to get him to punch in that code and drown to save Claire and Aaron. I don't buy it. I believe Desmond did see this vision. I read or heard a theory recently where this person suggested that maybe we'll see Claire give birth in sideways land and for some reason her and the baby will need to be air-lifted somewhere from there. Possible and would be interesting that Desmond saw a sideways vision way back in season 3. But I just don't know. Right now I'm thinking that we won't be seeing this one! Maybe Man in Black (confirmed that he was portraying Christian Shephard) interfered with this vision becoming a reality and took Claire off of the grid intentionally to CHANGE that vision. Maybe it played into his end game. Will we get that confirmed on the show? I don't know. 5 hours left, it's anyone's guess what is important!

"I did this for Claire!"

(ummm Where's Claire?)

14.) The Ghosts, The Dreams and the Crazy Animals(and the whispers!)- I added the whispers in here since we got an answer. We learned there are Ghosts trapped on the island and they make up the Whispers. Many people had associated whispers with The Others. Damon and Carlton jumped in on their podcast and suggested that maybe the whispers began to get louder as a "WARNING" when the Others were around. Maybe, I dunno. What does it mean that Ghosts are trapped on the island? Michael said it was because of what he did (kill Ana Lucia and Libby). Does that mean he is not in Sideways Land? Maybe ghosts trapped on the Island can't exist in that Sideways place? We saw Eko, Ana Lucia and Charlie as Ghosts OFF Island (we didn't see Eko actually but we know he was there). So were they not punished for killing Ethan or various others? Or Ana Lucia wasn't punished for shooting a man in cold blood PRE-ISLAND? I dunno. We also have seen Christian Shephard off Island but that's a totally different topic. We'll get there! As for the Dreams - Some suggest they were initiated by the MIB. I don't know if we know he can do such a thing yet! Not sure if we'll get an answer to this one. We'll see. Crazy Animals - Kate's Horse, the Hurley Bird, Sawyer's Boar. I don't know if we'll get anything on them either. But Kate definitely saw a Black Horse on that Island and it seemed to be the same horse that helped her get free from the Marshal at one point. Perhaps this was Jacob somehow interacting with Kate to make sure she stayed on track? So now he's an animangus?! (how's that for some Harry Potter talk?) I just don't know. I'm not too concerned about that stuff though. Mainly the Ghosts.

15.) Is Ben really a villain or truly a good guy who had done bad things to get the job done? - Well what do you know, "Dr. Linus" focused on this issue specifically! Ben seems to have repented, but last we saw he went with Richard and Miles to blow up a plane. Jury is still out if he'll stay repented. But it would seem we'll may still have a Ben vs. Widmore battle after all!

16.) Christian Shephard - The long lasting enigma of LOST. We finally got some answers in the last episode. But we still have questions! Yes Smokey has been impersonating Christian. He came to Claire and took her off the map when the Oceanic 6 left the island. He apparently came clean to Claire that he was NOT her dead father but somehow befriended Claire. But we still have questions on Christian. I have given up on the mystery around his murder in Australia. Maybe Christian really did drink himself to death. Why he left the wallet in the hotel room? Eh, we'll never know. But I cannot believe that every appearance of Christian was the Smoke Monster. Remember off island when Ghost Charlie told Hurley (off camera) that Jack is going to get a visitor too? Remember that Jack was at the hospital and saw his dead father back in the suit sitting on a seat and he yelled "JACK" to get his son's attention? Yeah, remember how we learned Smokey is trapped on the island? So what gives!? The ironic part of all of this is that the smoke detector was beeping right before Ghost Christian showed up! Red Herring? I know I totally thought it was smoke monster induced back in season 4. But based on our knowledge of Smokey's Island prison, I have now changed my mind. There also is the instance where Flannel Shirt Christian shows up to Michael right before the freighter blows up and he says "you can go now." WHAT WAS THAT?!?! Smokey can't fly across the water, he already stated this. So was this THE ISLAND speaking to Michael? Was it ghost Christian again? Or was it somehow Smokey? Yikes...lots of questions. One thing that I'm convinced will happen before the end of this show: Jack and Christian will have a conversation. It has to be the Ghost version, right? Smokey is stuck as Locke since Jacob was killed, so I guess we'll see. I wonder how Christian's missing corpse in Sideways land will play into all of this as well? You would think that would come back into this. Anyway, since Christian was one of the first mysteries on the show, it would be fitting if it was one of the last ones resolved. I sure hope this is on Darlton's agenda!

17. The Psychic Malkin in Australia - I think I'm giving up on this one too. He seemed to be such a pivotal role in season 1 when he KNEW Flight 815 was going to crash and proclaimed the importance of Claire's unborn child being raised by her. Then in season 2 he admits to Eko that he's a fraud. I thought we were going to find out that he played a part in getting people to the Island. But, perhaps not. As I mentioned in January, this theme has continued throughout the series of Claire needing to raise Aaron (as we see - Kate raised her and now this has caused issues with Crazy Claire! And we learned that MIB had a crazy mother.). If we found out that Aaron somehow ends up being the Man in Black then the psychic's fears would be explained. But, do we really think that is going to happen? We have swallowed a lot of what the writers have sent our way (Time Travel, Island moving Donkey wheels, Ghosts, Smokey Monsters) but do we see them going somewhere with this that Aaron will end up being the Man in Black and will have time traveled back to the past and got caught in an eternal feud with Jacob? I'm not seeing it! So I'm willing to let the need for more information on Malkin go.

18. ) What's in the Guitar Case? - CHECK! We found this out very quickly in season 6. It was a large wooden ankh that had the list of Jacob's candidates inside. Of course, we're still debating who the "6" living candidates are (since John Locke is dead). But, it might not really matter because we'll probably be finding out soon who the "CHOSEN ONE" is. Is it too obvious that it could be Jack? I'm thinking that way too, but how could it NOT be Jack? We even saw Jacob telling Hurley that Jack saw what he needed to see and now he had to think about it after the LIGHTHOUSE. It would seem like Jacob is grooming Jack to be the man. But we haven't even confirmed if Jacob is indeed THE GOOD GUY! Or if there even is a definitive Good and Evil on this Island. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

19.) Who are the Shadow of the Statue people? CHECK! The Shadow of the Statue people were trained as bodyguards for Jacob (not very good ones) and at the very least, Ilana was trained to protect the CANDIDATES from ol' Smokey. Now, we can sit here and talk about all of the inconsistencies and why Ilana let Sun out of her sights in season 5 when she went traipsing around with Lapidus lookign for Jin. But let's just accept that this happened and the writers do tend to flush things out more from season to season. There are still questions to why Bram tried to recruit Miles and to NOT go with Charles Widmore to the Island. He clearly said that he was on the "wrong side". But now Widmore seemed like he wanted to HELP the Losties when he finally returned to the Island. Of course, he just broke off his deal with Sawyer. This could be for various reasons. He overheard Sawyer's plan to break the deal himself and steal the sub or he was just playing Sawyer from the start. So then does this mean Widmore is on Smokey's side? I don't think so. Smokey pretty much declared war on Widmore quoting Charles himself with something he told John "A war is coming to the Island and if you're not back there, the wrong side is going to win." Yikes, this stuff is getting kind of confusing! I'm sure it will lead to one epic conclusion, but I hope we're able to follow who is on what side! My guess is though, as long as we're rooting for our LOSTIES, we'll know what side is supposed to win! Oh yeah, and while we're on the subject - how awesome was it that Ilana blew up "Arzt Style" a couple episodes ago!??

20.) What is the Temple? - CHECK! We finally saw the Temple, and did this very early in season 6 as well! I know people were very underwhelmed by the 6 hours we spent in temple land and compare it to the 6 hours we spent in Polar Bear cages in season 3. Yeah, I guess it was similar but we definitely got some answers during our time there. No, the Temple didn't turn out to be a gateway to OFF of the Island (but was the Lighthouse one?) so we still don't know how Richard, Tom Friendly and others came and went freely from the island and so quickly. (I'd imagine the sub ride took awhile which does not explain how Richard grabbed Anthony Cooper from a car crash and brought him instantly to the Island). But the Temple did certainly have a healing spring that somehow resurrected Sayid Jarrah from his season 5 gunshot wound. Sure, he seems to have been "CLAIMED" (whatever that means) by the Smoke Monster, but no one can deny that he is walking around after being dead for 2 hours. Does this have something to do with Sideways land and near death or ACTUAL death experiences? Time will tell. We do know that the water normally wasn't discolored in the spring. So when Ben was healed in it, it was clear water and he must have been revived instantly. He probably wasn't claimed by Smokey but Richard did discuss the "taking of his innocence" when he took Ben from Kate and Sawyer. What does it all mean? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm guessing we won't be revisiting any Temple stuff. So we are free to speculate as we like! Oh right, and the Temple was the last sanctuary away from Smokey, but since Smokey got to Sayid ...he was able to remove Dogen from power (i.e. Sayid killed him) and then Smokey was free to come into the temple and wreak havoc on any OTHERS that didn't join him. Cindy and the Kids survive. Do we think all of the OTHERS believe MIB that they have been lied to all of their time on the Island? We know that Ben was trying to keep people on the island even though some wanted to leave (season 3 discussion with Locke before he blew up the sub). Has Jacob really trapped these people on the Island? Is MIB really trying to get people off of the Island with him? (It's kill or be killed...and I don't want to be killed!) Time will tell.

21.) Who or What is Jacob? - Looks like I was onto something with my speculations in January of Jacob. Especially how he became a "Ben Kenobi" like character (Loved the scenes so far with Hurley and Jacob interacting....but where has Jacob been the past 7-ish episodes?) We still don't know much about this mysterious man. We've been spending more time getting to know the Man in Black (who is still mysterious). The biggest scene we got with Jacob was his conversation with Richard in 1867 on the beach near the destructed 4-toed statue. Jacob and MIB have some kind of POINT their trying to prove to each other. Jacob thinks people are inherently good, MIB thinks all people are corruptible. I guess Jacob things he only has to succeed once to prove his point "It only ends once." Well, maybe twice. Because we did see MIB try to coerce Richard into killing Jacob, but he failed. Richard ended up working for Jacob. Of course, the fact that Richard and Jacob may have wiped out an entire US Military for whatever reason doesn't make us feel warm inside. Richard said something like "we had to do it" to Daniel. Huh? And who is responsible for ordering that Purge of the DHARMA initiative? If it ends up being Jacob, it would shed him in a new light wouldn't it? Jacob also showed a pretty mean side to Richard before he started boozing up on wine any everything. But, from what we can gather, Jacob has been watching all of his candidates their entire lives and he has been GUARDING the Island, protecting it's one prisoner of ULTIMATE Evil (Smokey? The Trapped Ghost Whisperers?? both?) from ever leaving the Island. And the people that he PUSHED to the Island (Our 815ers plus others), were mainly candidates to replace him when he was killed. Even those few comments of mine may not be actual fact, but it's what we've been led to believe. Yet still, Damon and Carlton give us reason to doubt that Jacob is the almighty GOOD PERSON on this Island. They suggest that MIB might be justified in his cause. It would seem that every character on LOST has justified reasons for acting the way they do. We just need learn their backstories to find out exactly what those reasons are! And something tells me this might just happen before the end.

22.) Is Locke Really Dead? - I think we know the answer to this now. He most certainly is dead in the Island timeline. We know people are "waking up in the Sideways timeline." Some, including myself, have speculated that the John Locke we see in the Sideways Timeline is actually the Man in Black. An injured Sun seeing an injured Locke in the hospital seems to recognize him as pure evil as well. But she may be remembering the Island timeline. I cannot honestly believe that John Locke is gone in both timelines at this juncture. And I do not believe we have seen the last of island John Locke. Yes, maybe he'll be a ghost when we see him. But there has to be some kind of redemption scene for everything he's gone through. Say what you want about the character, he was one of the most beloved LOST characters from the minute he wiggled his toes and stood up on that Island. For the Man in Black to go as far as calling Locke a "SUCKER" makes me think that they're setting us up for a big Locke scene before the end. How? No clue, but that's the beauty of LOST!

23.) What is the Island? - Can you believe it? We actually doubted we'd get an answer to this one and we got one. One so descriptive, Damon and Carlton realized it was almost over when their Wine Bottle and Cork analogy ended up in the actual episode Ab Aeterno, right smack in the middle of the season. They were planning to "avoid the question" again and then they realized, you know what? This is the final season, we have someone who knows something talking about the Island to someone else. THIS IS THE TIME to unveil the answer! What is the Island? A CORK! More specifically, something STOPPING some kind of Evil from being unleashed into the world. Jacob is the guardian of said Cork and making sure that this evil does not leave the Island. We already discussed this above. What is the evil? Well, my first instinct and probably my 2nd and 3rd instinct is to believe that Jacob believes the Smoke Monster must be kept on this Island. The Man in Black, whomever he is. Of course, we also know that there are ghosts that have done "not so great things" that are trapped on this island, hence the whispers. Does MIB getting off the Island signify the release of these Ghosts? Is that why Michael was so adamant about Hurley getting to Flocke? Eh, we have 5 more hours to figure that out. Now, as for how this Island has all of these scientific elemental properties (huge whopping loads of Electro-magnetic energy), well we don't quite know that. Some suggest that it could be related to this volcano that we have never seen on the Island. I have heard on good faith that we will be hearing or seeing more about this volcano before the end too. SO MAYBE! What about the Island's healing powers? Do we still believe that the Island healed Locke, healed Rose, kept Jack from needing his appendix removed until he decided he was going to leave the Island? Or do we think this was all Jacob? A human with supernatural healing powers all on his own? I think I'm more inclined to believe of a magical island before I believe in a magical man! But that's just me. I want to believe this Island was still a character on the show and it wasn't just the people on it that were setting these rules. But that's just me. Back when the show started, did I want specific explanations to why Locke was walking again? Why people were getting healed? Yeah. Do I want the curtain unveiled now and have the writers make up scientific explanations for why it happened or do we just want to believe that this fictional place exists where crazy things happen to normal people put into these situations? You know, I could go either way on it still. I do want answers, I'm not going to lie. But, I still want my intrigue at the end of the day. I want to be able to go back and rewatch the show with some sense of mystery and magic with what is going on to these characters. I know I drink the producer Kool-aid but I think their explanation of going all "midi-chlorian" on us is a great one. Did anyone want to know how THE FORCE worked in Star Wars? Did we need to know that there were tiny organisms living inside the Jedi's bodies? REALLY GEORGE?!?!? Granted, 2 different types of show. Star Wars was action/adventure/fantasy. LOST is MYSTERY/Adventure/Science-Fiction/Fantasy. It's the mystery part that kind of ruins the analogy. Most mysteries are resolved at the end. I still say we will have a very satisfying conclusion and I am going to hold all of my complaints about the NON-ANSWERS until we've had time to mourn the ending of the greatest TV SHOW to ever grace TV!

Season 6 Questions to Ponder in the Final Hours

What is up with the Flash Sideways?We learned that after THE INCIDENT, life went on in the present as we knew it for our LOSTIES. Whatever Happened did certainly still happen. Oh, but it wasn't that easy was it? This whole Flash Sideways timeline came into existence. If you believe Sideways Faraday, then it was most certainly caused by Jughead. But I still want confirmation by someone in the know! (like maybe Faraday's mother herself.) What exactly is the sideways? Well, we're not quite sure. But we know that the LOSTIES are "waking up" due to near death experiences and connecting with TRUE LOVES from their Island existence. We also know that Juliet saw herself having coffee with Sawyer right before she died on the Island. Her dying thoughts were "It worked!" So, did it? Are these LOSTIES destined to live a life of bliss in Sideways Land? Do they all need to die on the Island first? I don't really think that's where this is going. But I do think the timelines will converge into one somehow. And Desmond seems to be the key in both timelines to opening the LOSTIES' collective eyes. Right now, it seems like Island Jack might be having the next vision of his sideways existence. Afterall, he did just fly 20 feet after being thrown from a Widmore Bomb Blast! And does that cut on his neck after the bomb match up with his cut on his neck on Flight 815 in the sideways universe? And speaking of mirrors, why do they keep showing the sideways crew looking into their reflections!? Yes, LOST has thrown us many curveballs but it has saved its riskiest for its final act. Showing us 2 timelines all season and not letting us in on what's going on until the very end. It's a gamble, and I'm sure hoping it pays off!

UPDATED: Cannot believe I forgot this -> Why is the Island Underwater in Sideways Land? - Is it a result of Jughead? Is it a result of events yet to happen in the Island Timeline present? Is it a result of something totally different? We know that Ben and his father Roger were on that Island at one point in the Sideways timeline. What would have happened to cause that Island to sink? We see that the Statue only has one foot...so the Black Rock must have crashed into the statue. We see that the DHARMA Barracks and Shark are there so all of that fun stuff still happened. What CHANGED? Time will tell I hope!

How important are Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking?They seem to have a lot of knowledge with what is going on. Eloise, we learned, had Daniel's journal to guide her through the future events of her life (yes we've discussed this at length many times. Some the things she knew didn't add up). But in Sideways Land, she seems to know everything that's going on there too! It's almost like she sent Daniel on the path back to the Island to get killed by her so that it would set off the chain of events to blowing up Jughead and create this Sideways world where she would have her son again. Crazy, right? So is this show! As for Widmore, well he's always been very mysterious in his intentions. The one thing that we knew he has always wanted was THE ISLAND. He wanted it back from Ben. Ever since that infamous scene in season 4, he has seemed nothing but genuinely wanting to help the LOSTIES. But he makes comments to Sawyer about how he knows so little of what's going on. Thus implying that Charles Widmore may know A LOT of what is going on. Somebody better spill the beans before people start getting offed!

Who should we believe, MIB or Jacob? How about both?We are being led to believe that MIB is the BAD GUY and Jacob is the GOOD GUY but nothing is ever clean cut on LOST, right? The producers keep feeding us that bug that MIB may be truly just in his actions. Like I said, a backstory on these 2 might clear this whole situation right up! Or at least, give us more things to ponder. I've been keeping a running theory that all I care about is ALL OF THE LOSTIES fighting for one cause in the end. And I have even stated that there is a possibility that they don't listen to Jacob or MIB in the end. Of course, that seems to be what Sawyer's plan was and that isn't working too well. Seems like all hope lies in Jack, Desmond and maybe Sayid right now. Of course, who knows how Richard, Miles and Ben will play into this with their grenades and stuff!

Who will be the Chosen Candidate?As I mentioned above, all signs seem to be pointing to Jack. But that seems too obvious doesn't it? We know that Hurley has a special connection with Ghost Jacob, so that could be an interesting twist. We know that Kate's name was not on the WALL (or MIB implied it was crossed off), but we also know her name was on Jacob's Lighthouse Dial and NOT crossed off. The producers indicated that her name may have been left off the wall to throw MIB off the scent of her. Then of course, there is omnipotent Desmond! His name hasn't been thrown around as a candidate either, but everyone is mentioning his Jacob-like tendencies. Time will tell!

What is Desmond up to?Well, we discussed this a bit too. But ever since he got to witness the sideways land with his own eyes and sideways Desmond witnessed the Island life - these 2 versions of Desmond seem to be on a joint mission. Are they AWARE of things happening in both timelines simultaneously? That would be kinda nuts, right? It might explain why he ran over Locke in sideways after Flocke threw him in the well though. But, Desmond also seemingly knew exactly what to say to Sayid to possibly snatch him from MIB's CLAIMED clutches. And he seemed to be able to get Sideways Hugo to witness his Island past after he shared a kiss with Sideways Libby. Seems drastic but maybe this is how he needed to wake LOCKE up. After all, Charlie did turn Desmond's car into the bay to show "HIM" what he needed to see. Can't wait to see what is going on!

How is Sayid still alive?We have said it again and again: Dead is Dead Even last season perplexed us with Locke and the answer was right in front of our face. It wasn't Locke, it was Smokey! Miles - the death expert, explains to Sayid that he was dead for 2 hours and now he is walking around like everything is fine. Well, except that he was highly emotional when he woke up (and a bit of a whiny baby!) and after he started doing MIB's bidding, he began to feel NOTHING. Even though the producers joked about a zombie season 7 on their podcast over the years, we have been promised that there would be no ZOMBIES on LOST. So what gives? Is this our latest mystery to figure out how he's still walking around? Really, the only thing I can come up with is somehow tying this to Sideways stuff. But I still don't get how that would work! I guess we may find something out in the 5 hours. Also, what did/does Flocke have in store for Sayid where he told him it would be better that he couldn't feel anything? Well, for one, he has tried to get him to kill Desmond (someone who is also seeing this ghost boy roaming around). My running theory is that MIB won't be able to kill the candidates, it's all part of these "RULES". So, he may try to get Sayid to do it for him. But now that Sayid may be "back on the light side" that could be difficult for Flocke!

Is there any hope for Claire?I mean, Kate did convince her to come with them and now she's in Widmore's clutches. But she still seems a little crazy right? Smokey sure did a number on her. But, one has to hope that sweet little Claire with her invisible peanut butter love can return! Maybe, again, this will have to do with some merging of the minds of Sideways and Island versions of these Losties. I guess we'll see!

Where are Rose and Bernard? We know they aren't regular cast members and tend to show up in season premieres, potentially an episode within the season, and then the FINALES! In sideways land, we see that Rose is working for Hugo at a temp agency and is happily united with Bernard. What about Island versions? Are they still with Vincent in 1977? Did their retirement signify "no time jump" for them? And of course, producers have promised us that Vincent will live to see the end of the show. I'm sure we'll see these guys in the series finale, but where they will be will be absolutely interesting. Because nobody seems to be worried about them! And, I'm sure some people are still considering them top candidates for Adam and Eve. But they would have had to die pretty soon after the Incident to be the bodies in that cave. And that's not a very happy ending for them!

Whose side is everyone on? How will it all end?MIB is trying to get off of the Island. Sawyer and crew are trying to get off of the Island. Jack never wants to leave the Island (a la the old Locke) and feels they were brought here for a reason. Ben, Richard and Miles want to blow up the Ajira plane. Jacob wants MIB to stay on the Island. Widmore just broke his deal with Sawyer and has people hostage! Desmond seems to have a plan of his own too. Everyone has potentially slightly different motives? Will we see alliances formed to mutually benefit some groups? As I mentioned, I see the LOSTIES working together in the finale (I can't escape the Live Together Die Alone mantra). But, I potentially see how some may leave the Island for good (Sun/Jin to get back to Ji Yeon, Claire to get back to Aaron, Desmond if he survives to get back to his family) and some possibly staying: Jack and Kate - what do they really have to go back to in the Island timeline? Sawyer? Eh, well I still think at least 1 of those 3 (Jack, Kate and Sawyer) will not survive to the end of the show. But, of course, none of this is factoring in the Sideways Land. How will this play into it all? I just don't know. And the producers said that if we are still confused on how it will end going into the 2 hour finale, then they have done their job! GREAT!

I'm sure there are many more, but that's what we have comments for!

Miscellaneous

Here are some other long standing questions that we got semi-answers to or didn't get any. And of course, my thoughts on them. As a heads up, on August 24, 2010, when the Season 6 DVD/Blu-Rays will be released there will also be an official LOST Encyclopedia released that may contain answers to some of these questions that they never could answer on the show! I may be referring to it a few times below.

Dharma Food Drops - Producers have gone on record indicating this won't be answered in the show itself. If they ever had an opportunity it would have had to be season 5 during DHARMA Times, but they just didn't have time to address it. I'm guessing this is an encyclopedia candidate. But there is also a segment that Damon and Carlton are pre-recording for the Jimmy Kimmel Aloha show that will air after the series finale. There's a chance they may answer some of these crazy questions that came up throughout the 6 year run!

Why do Pregnant Women die on the Island and when did it start? - I'm still holding onto hope that we get an answer to this one. It seemed to be a running theme from seasons 1-5, they can't just ignore it in the final season, can they? When Juliet delivered Ethan in season 5, Sawyer said that "maybe whatever happened to cause pregnant women dying hasn't happened yet" and it most certainly did NOT happen yet. Doesn't that seem to indicate an answer is coming? I always linked the issue to the PURGE. I have no idea why the purge would cause it, but that seems to be the big event between the 70's and Oceanic 815 crashing.

The story of Kelvin and how he went from training Sayid to be a torturer to working for DHARMA - Yeah, I think they already said they never planned to have this story. But I always was interested!

What are the Numbers? - We actually DID get an answer to this, and I think some fans weren't too happy. I'm sure it was never their original intent but they did try to give us some explanation to them this season. The numbers seem to be associated with the candidates. And there were MANY numbers on that dial. But 4 - Locke, 8 - Reyes , 15 - Ford , 16 Jarrah, 23 - Shephard and 42 -Kwon were associated with THE LOSTIES. Does it explain why the numbers were cursed and caused Hurley to win the lottery? Does it explain why they were on that Radio Tower message and that it sounded like Hurley's voice? Does it explain why they were the serial number on the Hatch or the numbers they entered into the computer? NOPE But, it does explain that these numbers have always been associated with the candidates. And they've been a long-standing theme on the show or an "inside joke" if you will where they keep popping up everywhere. I'm fine with their answer. There was no possible way that they could provide an actual answer to these numbers and they even admitted that in season 1! So, I like that they still tied it in somehow. Also, we should mention that Austin (Kate) is 51 which is 15 reversed. And Wallace was 108 - which some people died to Desmond due to the Scottish origin of the name.

How/Why did the Island prevent people from Dying before their work was done? - This theme has continued in season 6 with Ilana blowing up after she told the Candidates what their job is. Ben brought it up as they were heading to the Black Rock. We also saw that Richard couldn't kill himself and we saw that Jack lit the dynamite and sat there with Richard to prove that they wouldn't die. They believe it has something to do with Jacob touching them. Jack believes that he has something to do on this Island before he can die and now he believes that it is stopping MIB. Does this explain why he couldn't kill himself off Island? Yes, I would think so. Does it explain why Michael couldn't kill himself until he helped his friends? Sure looks that way (jury still is out on who or what was portraying Christian and telling him "he can go now.") Richard seems to think that the only way to die is if other people kill them. Is this why Locke was prevented from killing himself twice and then finally murdered by Ben? I still question if Sawyer should have been shot by the OTHERS in 1974 but it seemed like the bullets whizzed right past him. Eh, I could guess forever. I still think there will be more on this one.

Who built the Lamp Post station? - Eloise talked of a man so brilliant that created it. We have all speculated it was what Faraday was working on OFF Island during 1974-1977. Maybe he designed the station, but it was built afterwards? Maybe this will be in the encyclopedia. Unless it shows back up in Sideways land!

Will we learn more about Ben's Childhood friend Annie? - Bottom line: NO According to the producers, this storyline was meant to tie into his infatuation with Juliet. He never had strong female attachments. His mother died at childbirth and he had a really close friend in Annie. He never had a relationship with a female and became very obsessive with Juliet. Harper Stanhope (Goodwin's wife) suggested that Juliet looks just like "HER" which is why Ben was so obsessed. I had my crazy theory that Annie became Sarah (Jack's ex-wife) because Ben told Jack that Juliet looked just like Sarah. WHICH SHE DOESN'T! Anyway, that doesn't seem to be right. It probably was more in reference to Ben's mother or something like that. Which of course, we all know Ben's mother was played by Michael Emerson's wife Carrie Preston. How is that for creepy!?

Why did some people on Flight 316 go to 1977 when others went to 2007? - The producers said they won't give us this answer outright, but we should be able to figure it out from everything we learn in season 6. The best theory going around right now is that only the CANDIDATES went back in time. We saw Faraday, Lewis, Burke and Straume on that wall crossed off. And they all time traveled back too. The only questionable one was KWON, because Sun stayed in the present. Some look at this as evidence that JIN is one of the candidates and Sun is not. I just don't know. Littleton was also on that wall, but she was crossed off too. Maybe because MIB claimed her it prevented her from moving with her friends?

Again, I could go on and on! And I'm sure some people will in the comments. There definitely are lots of questions still to be answered, and they won't possibly get to them all. But I think this was a good exercise to see what answers they HAVE provided over the course of the season. They may not be to everyone's satisfaction, but they are providing answers along the way in a show that still needs to TELL A STORY in this final season. You can imagine how entertaining it would be if they just sat there for 18 hours and ranted off answers to us. I think the big answers will be saved for that final 2 hours. Some of the little answers we want: maybe on Jimmy Kimmel's show after and more likely in the LOST Encyclopedia (8/24!). You can be assured that I'll be posting more information on this blog when I get that encyclopedia, if anyone cares by then!

I am going into these 5 final hours with an open mind. I'm not going to sit there with my checklist and demand answers or resolve to be unsatisfied. There are 5 hours left in the greatest TV drama of all time. And I'm going to savor each moment we have left. And I have faith that they will not let us down! I suggest we all do the same. There will be plenty of time to complain or discuss unanswered questions afterwards. But in the meantime, if you have any gripes or praises for the show or any additional questions you want answered feel free to post them in the comments and let's chat! I'll be back next week with my normal Recaps (we need to savor those as well!) Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and I'll see you next week! NAMASTE!

I took a night job to pay some extra bills writing for http://www.gather.com/. If you could, please click to view this LOST Recap on Gather to register me a page view. It will go towards a very small financial contribution for my efforts. Also, feel free to check out my other articles on the site.

Special Thanks to Dark UFO for the excellent Screen Captures! And also thanks to my iMac as I was able to create many myself. So by default, thanks to ABC too for allowing me to post pictures on the blog!